


Wind Them Up and Let Them Go

by CurlicueCal, LaughingStones



Series: Shadowbound AU [15]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Demonstuck, Dirty Talk, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Hand Jobs, Humanstuck, M/M, Negotiated kink, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Rimming, dirk is forcefully removed from denial, does dirk have a voyeurism/exhibitionism kink yes he does, is dirk into john HE WILL NEVER TELL, shadows as daemons/familiars, soul bonds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:28:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23379886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CurlicueCal/pseuds/CurlicueCal, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaughingStones/pseuds/LaughingStones
Summary: Dirk:  So we should probably talkGamzee: but, have you considered: we should fuck :o)Dirk: You're right, that is a WAY better planand then they did both
Relationships: Dirk Strider & Hal Strider, Dirk Strider/Gamzee Makara, Gamzee Makara & Kurloz Makara, Hal Strider/Gamzee Makara
Series: Shadowbound AU [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/389896
Comments: 24
Kudos: 120





	Wind Them Up and Let Them Go

The door closed behind John. Gamzee was standing in the middle of the spilled popcorn looking indignantly after him, Kurloz unfurled like a cloak, and Dirk was just—trying to surround the events of the past hour. “Well,” he said a little blankly, because it seemed like he really ought to be saying _something_. “That sure was a thing that happened.”

 _Are we sure?_ Hal said. _Because I’d like to offer the alternative theory that we just ate some weird cheese and had a fever dream_.

Gamzee snorted at Hal without looking away from the door. "Sneak-ass little motherfucker," he grumbled, as Kurloz rippled and swept through the room like he was re-staking claim to it. "Somebody ought to get their education on about cleaning the fuck up after yourself." He squinted thoughtfully for a moment, then apparently shook it off, stepping back to the couch to stand above Dirk, the tight front of his pants conveniently at eye level.

Dirk blinked several times and turned his attention up towards Gamzee’s face. 

“Hey, brother," Gamzee said, eyes gleaming. "You want as we should maybe take care of a couple details?"

Heat swept through Dirk, but he kept his pokerface. It had been working for him all night; why stop now?

“Depends. Just which of John’s messes am I supposed to be cleaning up here?”

Grinning, Gamzee sank down onto Dirk's lap, straddling his legs, and ground up against his stomach. "I was thinking this one might be all up at needing the assistance," he said breathlessly.

“Well, I’d hate to leave a bro hanging.” Dirk’s hands went automatically to Gamzee’s hips, still light, still dazed feeling. Gamzee’s hunger curled dizzily through him as well as his own heat, a lit coal fanned slowly hotter all evening. That heat was popping and cracking in his gut, something dark and complicated-feeling that he wasn’t sure he wanted to examine. “Rude as fuck, that.” 

Dirk slid a hand between them, cupped over the hard, hot bulge there, felt Gamzee rock up against him with a pleased, hungry noise. He looked wild, grinning down over Dirk, all worked up and ready for it, and that dark, complicated thing in Dirk’s gut twisted and turned because Dirk hadn’t done the working up, and that was… that was...

Gamzee kissed him eagerly, hands on Dirk's shoulders, rocking into his hand like it was perfect, like he wouldn't even think of asking for more, and Dirk hooked his other hand around his neck and let the heat melt him.

Hal slid in close—in Dirk’s brain, on the couch beside them. _Tell us what you want. Tell us how you want us to do it to you_.

Gamzee made a shuddery noise, hips rolling harder. "I dunno, brother, just—feels good, fuck." He panted for a minute, then admitted, "'Cept the chafing's kinda getting to be a thing, I guess."

Dirk snorted. “What, the jeans condom isn’t doing it for you?” 

_Jondom_ , Hal murmured, and Dirk squeezed his hand around Gamzee’s dick in illustration, making Gamzee’s own laugh cut off into a strangled moan. God, he was hungry for it. The heat pulsing through Dirk did another twisty thing in his gut. “Bet you could still get off like this,” he said, gentling his hand to work along that hard length. “Got you all desperate.”

A softer shivery sound made it out of Gamzee and his eyes fell shut. "Yeah," he said unsteadily, "could be." Licking his lips, he opened his eyes on Dirk, intense and earnest. "I could for you, brother, could do all manner of things if it pleased you.” And—fuck, Dirk had to bite his lip against the way that took him.

“Such a kind brother getting on his toleration and patience when I know you're in your unease about it—“ Gamzee’s hands, his eyes, the warm weight of his body held him close, kept him pinned —“all bearing with me in trust and sweetness—" he kissed Dirk again, slow and almost worshipful.

 _Tell us what you want,_ Hal urged again, as Dirk tipped up into the soft heat of Gamzee’s mouth, praise burning through him til he felt almost painfully exposed. (Anything, everything.) Hal didn’t say it. _Want to hear you ask for it_.

Gamzee groaned against Dirk's lips and pulled back. "Fuck, bro, I just—wanna get off? Whatever! Make it so's you like it, wanna make you happy, too. You wanna fuck me?"

“All the fuckin’ time,” Dirk said, and was pleased at the way it came out, dry and warm and not as desperately sincere as he felt inside. God, they could, right here on the couch. He remembered, in a slice of synaesthesia, bodies beside him, two sets of knees brushing hot against his thigh, soft noises in his ear. 

John’s teasing grin and the flash of blue eyes. _Have a *nice* night_. The heat sizzled up through him, sharp-edged.

Gamzee’s pupils dilated, a reminder of exactly how bare Dirk was, under his touch, how deeply he saw, and the answering heat that echoed back only built Dirk’s up higher. (The way he’d _felt_ , next to Dirk. That lazy, slowly building desire, shameless and exposed. Letting him watch.) 

Gamzee squirmed on Dirk’s lap, into the hand still teasing along his length through a thick denim barrier. “Brother. Please?”

Dirk felt wildly unsteady, dizzy, drugged. They really should slow down and talk, sex was not an appropriate processing tool. 

That twisty thing in his gut didn’t want to be examined. _Dirk_ didn’t want to examine how he felt. (You liked it, you’re jealous, you want him, you want them both.) He just wanted… “I wanna do something special for you. Wanna—have you, take you apart—” What were words even, how was he supposed to. “Something you haven’t done before. Something you want.”

Gamzee's eyes were dark and round, and he was breathing harder than he'd been, hips twitching and rocking. "Shit, bro," he breathed. "We've done all manner of shit already, though, what's even motherfucking left? You showed me toys and all, you up and… put your collar on me…" He swallowed, leaned forward and kissed Dirk hard, apparently overcome at the memory.

“Yeah, god,” Dirk said, when he could breathe again, sinking back into the couch. He tugged off his shades and tossed them somewhere to the side, stared up at Gamzee with eyes that wanted too much, wanted to eat him alive. “Doesn’t have to be new, just—c’mon, whatever you want. Tie me up, call you sir, collar you, ride you, swallow you down and be your good little cocksleeve.” Gamzee shivered, looking more than a little overwhelmed, the desire resonating through him starting to mix with uncertainty, and Dirk needed to slow it down, get a _grip_ , but he didn’t feel under control at all. He tipped his head against Gamzee’s throat, breathing there, hands sliding up his sides as he tried to think.

"Holy _shit_ , bro," Gamzee said, nuzzling the top of Dirk's head. Delight and indecision rang uppermost in him now, and he didn't say anything more, just chewed it over, while Dirk tried to remember how to be chill about any of this.

 _You gold-starred some stuff on that kink list we never did get to,_ Hal said thoughtfully, Dirk’s own little demon on his shoulder. _Let's see, we could get some ice cubes in on this, try a sixty-nine. Gag you, rim you, get you kneeling for us…_

Gamzee was gasping by then, clinging to Dirk and grinding into his stomach in fitful little jerks. " _Fuck_ ," he moaned. "Bro, _please_ , any of that, all of it." A brief note of puzzlement bloomed into shock and Gamzee froze, staring down at Dirk. "Wait. Shit, that's, rimming, ain't that the—with your mouth on, like—" He stalled out there, cheeks flushing ruddy, eyes wide. A low, almost sheepish surge of desire came sliding through the resonance, hot and hungry and uncertain.

“Yeah?” Dirk asked. “You like that thought?” He watched Gamzee with half-lidded eyes, the flickers of expression across his mobile face, the half-hidden thrum of want curling out from him to slide up Dirk’s toes and along his spine. Dirk couldn’t help but follow that feeling, nudge it along, see just how far he could push. “You’d like me eating you out. Get my tongue up in you, get you all spread open and wet. Fuck the noises out of you with just my mouth.”

Gamzee made an incredible noise, astonishment and want and something that Dirk would swear was embarrassment, if that was even possible. " _Fuck_ ," Gamzee said, hips shuddering up, and pressed his face against the top of Dirk's head, hiding his expression. "You gotta stop with _saying_ that shit, bro, or I'll fucking finish before we ever get anywhere," he mumbled, and then babbled on, "Not that, like, I'm saying you gotta, or something, um."

 _Oh,_ Hal said, and it sounded like revelation. He slid a little closer, ghosted fingers up over Gamzee’s thigh just long enough that Dirk could feel the echo of the touch. _I think we get a first after all, bro_.

Dirk’s breath caught as his dick twitched hard in the confining trap of his pants. That dark, hungry thing in his gut twisted and purred. He turned his lips into Gamzee’s neck. “Don’t tell me I’m the first to have the pleasure? God, I shoulda done this months ago.”

Gamzee’s breath hitched, and his giggle was incredulous. “The _pleasure?_ I mean, motherfuck, my brother, who all else was gonna get at doing a thing like that? Ain’t never even had a word said at me about it before.” He shifted on Dirk’s lap, jittering. “And no wonder, damn, like… that’s all ... _dirty_ , you don’t wanna be… you shouldn’t gotta be at, like…”

“That is the anime-est thing you have ever said.” Dirk felt a grin spread across his face. Beside them, Hal was laughing his ass off, collapsed along Dirk’s back in a dark length of shadow, warm and unusually fond. “Chillax. That’s what showers are for.” He nuzzled at Gamzee’s neck, slid a hand around to cop a feel of that choice ass. Not the plushest rump around, but Gamzee’s, so definitely choice. “God I’m gonna fuckin’ love this.” Gamzee made a hoarse, wavery little sound and wriggled needily. “Tell you what. You go get yourself all clean and pretty and ready for me, and I’ll dig out the flavored lube.”

"Fuck," Gamzee groaned, and scrambled up to obey.

-

Allowing himself time to think was always, and in every way, a mistake. Dirk contemplated this universal constant as he fidgeted on his bed, mostly to try to distract himself from all the other things he didn’t want to contemplate quite yet. 

_Right, because *not* thinking works out so well for you,_ Hal murmured.

Dirk turned his shirt again anxiously in his hands, then tossed it towards his desk chair just so he’d stop fidgeting. _Working so far tonight,_ he shot back, though without much conviction.

_Sure, tonight has stayed totally on the rails. No repression happening here; nothing lining up to explode in your face, ignoring stuff is gonna go totally great._

_There’s nothing *to* ignore; I’m just dealing with my own shit. Not everything has to be about my issues all the time._ Hal no doubt would have had a snappy rejoinder to that, but Dirk played his trump card—a subject change. _Gamzee’s been a while. Do you think he’s stalling?_

Hal’s shadow-face turned toward the bedroom door, toward the bathroom in the hallway, like maybe he could sense the other pair through the walls. Dirk was pretty sure he couldn’t, but sometimes it was hard to figure out how Hal’s less material senses worked. 

_Of course he’s stalling. Shower turned off 2.3 minutes ago._

Dirk fidgeted again, fingers picking at the bed sheets. _Maybe we shouldn’t have pushed._

 _Or maybe not everything’s about Dirk’s issues all the time,_ Hal mimicked him, but it sounded habitual. _He’s fine; stop *managing* him._

Dirk actually snorted. _Pot. Kettle._

_Shadow. Host._

_You really like him, don’t you?_ Dirk was pretty sure a therapist would diagnose him as doing some major displacement here, but that didn’t stop the twitchy ripple of fluster and aggravation in his head from being weirdly satisfying. Like calling Hal out made him as caught and exposed as Dirk felt, put them both in this strange, fluttery, terrifying place together.

 _*You* really like him,_ Hal returned. _Which is why you’re freaked out you’re gonna wreck this._

Dirk didn’t get to reply, because at that moment Kurloz swept through the doorway of Dirk's room, with Gamzee edging in after him damp and naked and wide-eyed. He smiled cautiously at Dirk where he waited shirtless on the bed, Hal lined up beside him in a shadow mirror.

Dirk smiled back, but he must have done a poor job backgrounding the noisy tangle in his head that was broadcasting through Hal, because Gamzee looked almost immediately edgier. Kurloz just twisted a long, lazy shadow loop around them on the bed, and Dirk’s smile turned a little wryer, more relaxed. 

“Hey, handsome,” he said, patting the sheets near him. “I see we’ve graduated back to freedom from towels-atopia. Bless this beautiful land and its victory over the terrycloth tyranny, nevermore shall we live in subjection.”

Gamzee's stride hitched halfway to the bed and he gave Dirk an uncertain look. "Figured it wouldn't up and have no sense to it to be wrapping up all modest when we're about to get on our freaky sex shit, yeah?" he said, settling next to Dirk lightly as though expecting to find it suddenly wasn't allowed.

“Oh, you want to do freaky sex shit,” Dirk said, definitely leaning into amused now, and yeah, he really should stop thinking, this was fine, everything was fine, you don’t have to pick everything to pieces, Dirk. “I was just gonna rim you, but we can do freaky if you want. What are you thinking, we put on some neko ears and fill the bathtub with jello pudding and cheetos?”

Gamzee made an amazing face at that. "Bro, what the motherfuck did those cheetos do to hurt you, that they'd up and deserve shit like that? Hell no, your mouth all going on my business is freaky enough for me." His cheeks were darker by the time he finished, proving his point, and Dirk couldn’t help but reach over to slide fingers up the line of his jaw. Gamzee stilled and flushed warmer under the touch, and his feelings were all chiming wonder and humming heat as they nestled through Dirk. 

“Pretty sure my mouth’s been on your business before, but if you’re having trouble remembering I clearly didn’t do it right.”

 _Oh no_ , Hal said. _I’m straight up disappointed in us._

"You ain't been to getting on _that_ end of it!" Gamzee protested. "My memory's got its grasp on firm of all that's happened, it wouldn't go and let slip a thing like your dream of a mouth, your miraculous touch, brother. Not ever." He nestled into Dirk's hand, then leaned in to kiss his jaw.

“That’s nice to hear.”

_It’s important to be memorable._

“Gotta keep those—user satisfaction ratings up.” Dirk’s voice hitched as Gamzee’s teeth nipped the soft skin under his ear. 

"They're motherfucking _up_ ," Gamzee assured him, breath hot in his ear, and started sucking a mark on his neck that made Dirk squirm.

“I can tell,” Dirk said, fingers gripping at Gamzee’s shoulders. “It’s kind of obvious without the towel.”

 _We appreciate the market transparency,_ Hal chirped, hand sliding briefly up Gamzee’s thigh, and Dirk was maybe never going to get over his shadow-brother having full on conversations with his sex partner, all but _participating_ , so fucking different than him murmuring away just to Dirk, suggestions and observations and heated little barbs that pricked as much as they turned him on. At least it felt like they were on the same page here. That page being to drive Gamzee as far out of his mind as possible.

(And Gamzee looked good, didn’t he, with Dirk’s brother’s hands on him. Looked good when he was enjoying himself. Looked good tonight with— _John_.)

Dirk pushed himself in close, climbing up on Gamzee’s lap to tongue his way into a kiss like maybe that could shut down the noisy stream of thoughts in his brain. Gamzee moaned and kissed back eagerly, arms wrapping around Dirk like he might try to get away otherwise.

They made out enthusiastically for a few minutes, and then Gamzee's hips rocked up against Dirk's and jerked, and Gamzee made a grumbly pained noise into his mouth. "Fucking jeans, ow," he said, pulling back, and glared at Dirk's pants, which had apparently offended his delicate erection.

“Oh, sure, you were all about the jeans condoms earlier, but suddenly now you have a bare skin fetish,” Dirk said, wriggling on the bed as he ungracefully kicked off pants and underwear alike. “Will this journey into depravity never end.”

"Bro, I never _didn't_ have a bare skin fetish," Gamzee said, grinning lazily and watching Dirk with heavy-lidded eyes. "I was just getting up into the spirit of compromise, and now I fucking lost it again. Gotta have what I need, my brother, can't be at compromising that shit now, gotta lay down the law and say don't get at chafing my poor dick off!"

 _You can lay down whatever you want,_ Hal hummed. _Starting with Dirk_.

“Thought we were on a mission here, bro,” Dirk returned.

_You can eat ass on your back. Sit on his face, angelcake._

Gamzee's grin melted into what Dirk would swear was wide-eyed, flustered embarrassment. "Fuck, what?! No, shit, I can't be at doing that! What if, he'd just, fuck!" And then to all appearances he ran out of words and just stared mutely at Hal and Dirk, cheeks ruddy-brown.

Dirk bit his lip, fighting both a smile and a dark, hungry little tug in his gut that wanted to push further, see how far he could truly drive that fall into wordlessness. “Or maybe we could start on the novice setting,” he said, dry. He licked his lower lip, eyes running over Gamzee top to bottom. He wanted to reach out, touch, feel what was going on behind that flushed skin for himself, but the curling hunger in his own gut made him cautious. “If you still wanna…?”

Gamzee kept staring at him. "Yes?!" he said. "I mean, weren't we, you were all at saying what a… fine thing it'd be to get there first, and all, not that you gotta if you've up and thought better, but um. Yeah?"

That low heat in Dirk flared higher. “Cool. It gets weird for you just let me know.” Gamzee nodded mutely, eyes wide and pupils dark like the devouring swathe of Kurloz around them.

Dirk realized he’d swayed in close without really meaning to, knees tucking under himself. His nerves sizzled with something between excitement and unease, still halfway convinced that he was pushing too far, too fast, asking for things that weren’t offered. They should slow down and talk, shouldn’t they, it had been a crazy fucking night and they still hadn’t talked about _anything—_

Hal settled his hesitation by sliding a shadow hand up over the point of Gamzee’s spine.

Dirk shivered as chords struck through him and settled, the hum of Gamee’s hunger and confusion and interest sinking in deep. Gamzee made a pleased noise and arched into Hal's touch, then gave Dirk an uncertain look.

"What, uh. What should I get to doing? Turn over, get all on my knees?" His cheeks were still flushed dark.

“Yeah. Lemme see you, sweetheart. Head down, ass up; lay out that feast for me.”

Thrilled embarrassment rang through the resonance as Gamzee ducked his head. He shot Dirk one more shy glance before turning over on his hands and knees, and then awkwardly got down on his elbows, spreading his knees. Making himself available, vulnerable, completely exposed.

 _Fuck, aren’t you pretty._ Hal traced dark fingers down over bare skin, along Gamzee’s ribcage and the curve of his hip and Dirk could just feel the blurred echoes of touch on his own skin, the way it made Gamzee’s breath flutter. _He could watch you just like this, you know._ Hal’s hands spread to frame Gamzee’s asscheeks, and Dirk felt the hot pulse of his arousal resonate through the connection between them all, make Gamzee suck in a breath. _He likes it so much._

Gamzee shivered, giving off startlement and something like pleased discomfort. “Shit, bro,” he mumbled, and his hips rocked once as he shifted on his knees, tilting a little higher. “Dunno why, ‘s all… not my best fucking side.”

“It’s hot,” Dirk said, swallowing the hoarse burr out of his voice. “You’re hot.” He scootched forward, enough to lay one hand at the small of Gamzee’s spine, follow that line up, make him arch against the bed and shiver. He ended between his shoulder blades, not quite to gripping the base of his neck, not quite to pinning, just feeling the heat and pressure of muscles as he tracked the slide of emotions under his hand.

Gamzee shifted on his knees again, breathing hard. His fingers clutched at the bedclothes, kneading and pulling, and he didn’t say anything, didn’t protest the hold, just knelt there tense and hopeful. Dirk leaned down, folding over him to press a kiss to the inked curve of his shoulder, then the center of his spine, one hand bracing on the bed by Gamzee’s head and the other sliding down along his side to hold his restless hips in place. With Hal still spread against Gamzee he could feel his own lips like they were on his own skin, a dizzying tangle of sensation mixing with the little noises Gamzee was making, the swirl of his desire and nerves and impatience like soda bubbles through Dirk’s veins. Hal slid away, giving him space to think, moving up the bed to recline in a curl near Gamzee’s face, watching Dirk work his way down Gamzee’s back.

 _You’re fuckin’ gorgeous when you feel good,_ Hal murmured, and Dirk couldn’t tell if the wash of heat was his own or Gamzee’s. _Could look at you all day._

“Not much to look at right _now_ ,” Gamzee mumbled, pressing his face into the bedclothes, and Dirk huffed an amused breath against his hip. Uncertainty was starting to mix with the want and impatience though, a chilly little zing of anxiety, though Dirk could feel the flare of pleasure with each sucking kiss against Gamzee’s skin.

“You’re not seeing what I’m seeing.”

_Aw, angel, you think he’s not hungry for it just because he’s taking his time with you? ‘Cause he likes to look at you be all pretty and available? He’s been wanting you all night, I know you felt that._

“Mngh,” Gamzee said, still hiding his face against the bed, but the anxiety died down, replaced by a soft wash of pleasure and warmth. Good job, Hal. 

_He likes the tease. He likes to wait. He liked watching you, you know_. Okay, never mind, bad job, Hal. Dirk sent his brother a ferocious mental ping, but Hal cheerfully ignored it. _He liked how pretty you were. With John._

Dirk sat up to glare at his shadow-brother, face hot and stomach twisting.

Gamzee made a sad noise as the kisses stopped, then sighed. “Woulda been better if he’d up and joined us for real,” he said wistfully. “Was hella fun though.”

Dirk’s brain did something complicated and non-parseable. 

Hal laughed. _Yeah, Dirk. Don’t you think it’d be fun? Don’t you want to go play with them?_

“Shut uppp,” Dirk whined, and hid his face in Gamzee’s back.

Gamzee snickered at him, fondness and interest and impatience all mingling. “Like that’s ever had its effectiveness on with your bro. For sure he’ll be at quitting now.”

_Think about it, Dirk. They could get you in between them, pass you back and forth like trading cards._

Dirk made a little noise.

_You think Gamzee’d look pretty with John over him? All that muscle. Think his dick would feel like Jake’s?_

“ _Stop_ it!” Dirk pulled away, reeling back so fast he was caught up in Kurloz’s enclosing shadow coil before he realized it.

It was like falling into a dark lake, cool and still. His thoughts went quiet, his heart raced. 

_Why dwell on one of no import when my little brother lies spread before you, ready to receive your worship?_ Kurloz growled at him. His coils slid possessively over Dirk, prickling and silky like static electricity. _You’ve coaxed him here to lavish attention on him, as is his due, and now you dally and bicker and leave him in his waiting. Motherfucking disgraceful. Get on your knees and worship, love toy._

Hal was quiet, quiet, focused knife sharp, but unmoving. Dirk could feel his own stillness like a physical thing, a hand around him, the wideness of his eyes, pupils dilated in electric fight-or-flight turned pure desire. Gamzee looked back at him, eyes wide and hopeful and still a little unsure.

Dirk licked his lips, drew in a shuddery breath, feeling the heat surge through him, a living, clawing presence, a hungry coal. 

Well okay then.

He knelt forward and crawled towards Gamzee. The resonance sprang up again the instant he put a hand on Gamzee’s back, notes of wild excitement and anxiety and want twining around each other.

Gamzee shifted his knees on the bedclothes and went still again, breathlessly waiting.

This time Dirk didn’t bother with foreplay, just put his hands on Gamzee’s asscheeks to spread them wider and nuzzled down into that flesh. The noise Gamzee made when his lips made contact was nothing compared to the hot, spiralling echo in the resonance, the way it almost felt like Gamzee’s _soul_ trembled against Dirk, tugging and sliding intimately though him. Dirk hummed and licked over Gamzee’s rim and Gamzee moaned, choked and shivery. His arms crept up around his head on the bed, hiding his face further, fingers digging into his hair, and his hips twitched back against Dirk.

“Fuck,” Gamzee gasped softly.

 _There you go, angel,_ Hal murmured, and Dirk twitched as his brother started talking again, but the animosity had gone out of him. His tone was soft, focused, almost reverent. _Doesn’t that feel good? He’s gonna eat you right up and love every minute of it._

Dirk hummed again, wordless agreement, and ran his tongue in a flat, hot stroke over Gamzee, and then again, and again, setting up a rhythm to feel him twitch and tremble under Dirk's mouth.

"Ah, fuck," Gamzee mumbled, and clawed at the bedspread. He kept gasping softly and making little whimpering noises, low cries and bitten-off moans, all much quieter than usual. It was hard to tell if the low voice was because he was focused so intently on what Dirk was doing, or some result of embarrassment.

Embarrassment certainly rang loud though the resonance, but so did the disbelieving thrill.

Dirk licked at that ring of muscle, pointed his tongue and nudged, pushed, felt it flicker and give and twitch again. With one hand he grasped Gamzee’s asscheek, kneading the flesh and pulling him wider open. With the other—

Dirk hitched and moaned, low and muffled, as he closed his hand around his own length.

Gamzee was gasping, hips jerking as he whispered, " _Oh, oh fuck, oh_ fuck _—_ " and pressed back into Dirk's touch. He whined long and shivering as Dirk kept working at him, his voice cracking and rising.

Dirk's tongue wasn't even tired when Gamzee's hips bucked and shuddered, and Dirk realized with a thrill that he was coming just like that.

"Fuck," Gamzee said, and squirmed where Dirk touched him before flopping over on his side, breathing hard.

Dirk licked his lips, staring at him hazily, and squeezed his dick where it pulsed in his hand.

 _Wow,_ Hal said, and for a wonder didn’t elaborate.

“Okay?” Dirk asked.

" _Fuck_ yeah," Gamzee said, panting. "Shit. Sorry, didn't mean to, just, up and go off like that, but _shit_ , bro." He shivered.

Dirk’s hand shifted on his cock, thumb brushing over the head, and he licked his lips again. He could, faintly, still taste Gamzee; soap and salt and clean skin, and the sounds he’d made, and the way he’d _moved_ —

 _God._ Dirk reached out to trace a hand light over Gamzee’s hip, little chimes of dazed contentment, startlement and mild sheepishness ringing through.

"Fuck," Gamzee sighed again, and wiggled around to face Dirk. "You need some help there, my brother?" he asked, grinning crookedly.

“Could do with a little assistance, yeah.” Dirk offered a curved corner of a smile back, stroked his cock once, lightly, up and down, matching the way he ran fingers over Gamzee’s skin. “You really liked that.”

Gamzee turned his face into the bedspread, groaning, and nodded. "Fucking filthy," he muttered, shooting Dirk a sheepish sideways look, and Dirk shivered hard. "But fuck if I didn't."

“God that’s hot.” Dirk closed his hand more firmly, worked himself with intention. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from Gamzee, that dark tangle of damp hair, the flush crawling his brown shoulders. That buzz of embarrassment and satisfaction through the resonance. “I barely had to touch you, you were so ready for it.”

Gamzee moaned at him in protest. "That ain't no manner of true, you were all at working on me for plenty long!" Huffing, he curled around closer, pulling himself between Dirk's thighs, and licked Dirk's dick above his fingers. Dirk huffed out a breath and pinched his eyes closed like it hurt him.

“ _Fuck_. You— so damn pretty, all the time, everything you do.”

Gamzee hummed low and pleased and licked again, then tugged Dirk's hand away and went down on him, sucking sloppily and making little hungry noises.

Dirk peeled his eyes open, watched Gamzee through slits, through the hazy flicker of his lashes, and slid his hands up into that thick, coiling hair. “All the time— wanna watch— you looked so good tonight—” He huffed and gasped for breath and tried not to shove himself down Gamzee’s throat.

Gamzee hummed happily in response, and then Dirk felt the note of wicked amusement appear and Gamzee raised his head, stroking Dirk with a hand instead. "I got a fair appreciation of you watching, too," he said, smiling heavy-lidded at Dirk, and Dirk felt that run through him like an electric shock. "Like it better when you join in, though,” Gamzee was saying, confidingly, hand still working Dirk. “Shit, I bet the three of us could get our shenanigans on for a hella good night, if you wanted next time.”

“I—I—” Dirk struggled for air, struggled to think, he was almost certain there was a reason that wasn’t supposed to sound blazingly hot right now, but he couldn’t remember. Gamzee’s talented hand moved along Dirk, and his dark, glinting eyes, and his voice, and the coil of amusement threading all around Dirk, conjuring wicked fantasy. “F-fuck, _oh_.”

"Yeah," Gamzee breathed, dropping his head to lick the tip of Dirk's dick a couple more times. Then he looked up again, head tilted. "Can't get my certainty on if it'd be more fun to get you and me on either side of him, working at him until all the tricks and sneakery fall away and he's all helpless and shivering between us, or for me to team up with him and work our will on you. Bet you'd enjoy that. He could pin you down so I could do just whatever I pleased."

A high noise, like a strangled whine, worked its way out of Dirk’s throat, and he tipped his head back and curled his fingers in Gamzee’s hair. His hips moved against Gamzee’s grip and Gamzee met him, working him firm and just right, and—

"You rather watch him fuck me while I suck you off?" Gamzee asked. "Or fuck me yourself while he gets his observation on?"

Dirk gasped, bucked, and came so hard he saw stars. Distantly he heard Gamzee make a startled noise and then giggle, but mostly Dirk was occupied with the hand working him steadily through orgasm.

"Fuck yeah," Gamzee murmured, and Dirk twitched all over at the soft tongue licking his dick clean.

When he finally managed to pry his eyes open again, Gamzee grinned up at him, apparently pleased and amused by the come spattered across his cheek and jaw. Dirk folded down to kiss him like he was coming home to harbor. 

Gamzee made another pleased noise, kissing him and drawing him close, and Dirk sank down next to him, melted into him, and licked into his mouth until some of the shaky emotional high had faded back.

On the bed, Hal knelt beside them as Dirk nuzzled at Gamzee’s ear, a dark shape a breath of space distant that brushed shadow fingers over Gamzee’s side. Dirk shot him a wary look, but he remained quiet, as he had been for some time. At the back of Dirk’s head he felt... meditative. His hand stopped over Gamzee’s heart, a shadow touch Dirk could feel on his own skin.

Gamzee shivered under it, giving Hal and then Dirk a pleased, shy look before brushing his own fingers over Hal's. Kurloz slid closer, ringing them on the bed, little spiky coils slipping close to Dirk's legs, his ankles.

"Sweetest brother I ever did know," Gamzee murmured, and kissed Dirk again.

Dirk shook his head against Gamzee’s skin, but didn’t vocally protest, just let his lips press soft against Gamzee, first his mouth, then his cheekbones under his eyes, the smear of sticky come which he followed to the corner of his jaw, cleaning with little kitten licks.

Gamzee giggled at him, turning his head cooperatively for Dirk. "Look at you being all sweet and getting me cleaned up. Motherfuck if you're not the best thing as ever got its happen on to me."

Dirk’s brain was clearing, and he had the idea some things had happened that he was going to have to think about. Or talk about. Or— tension was waiting in the wings to ambush him, that inevitable trap of overthinking, and he just— Hal, was right, he didn’t want to ruin this. This moment right now, or any of the rest of it.

“You like John,” he said, and he felt Gamzee go tense and slightly wary against him. Whatever vibes he felt from Dirk must have reassured him though, because he mostly relaxed again.

"Mm-hm," he agreed. "And you got your liking on of him too. Lots of liking we got going." He nuzzled Dirk's jaw like he couldn't keep from touching him.

“And you still like me,” Dirk said. _Best_ , he didn’t say, didn’t ask like the little voice in his head wanted to, because that was unfair, and he was already being ridiculous, and he was trying to be— not this.

"Motherfuck, bro," Gamzee said gently, "I'm all to being in _love_ with you, like I got my say on of before. John's cute and I wanna wreck him. You got your fingers down deep in my heart and fucking soul—and don't you get your thought on that I mean the resonance," he added. "I mean _you_ , in all your sweetness and thinking and planning."

Dirk didn’t know what to say to that. Hal’s fingers shifted where his hand lay over Gamzee’s heart and he snuggled abruptly closer, until Gamzee was halfway enfolded in shadow limbs. 

That probably served for an answer. 

“I… liked seeing you happy. Tonight. It was cute. And hot.”

A little arpeggio of glee came through the resonance and Gamzee kissed Dirk's jaw. "Good," Gamzee said. "How bout next time? You wanna watch again or maybe join in? Team up!" He wriggled a little, all eagerness and excitement.

Dirk let his eyes flick briefly shut against the tide of images that inveigled into his brain. (Gamzee would be eager just like that, gleeful, full of wicked ideas, and John would gasp and squirm, tag-teamed and overwhelmed, and how far could they _push_ things, working together—god.) 

He shouldn’t, he shouldn’t, but. 

Dirk could still remember Gamzee’s voice, murmuring dirty suggestions as he worked Dirk relentlessly over the edge, how much he’d _liked_ it—

“John is—” he started in a rush, and then had to stop to figure out how he wanted to end that sentence. “—complicated. For me.”

 _Because he reminds you of Jake,_ Hal murmured, and Dirk's breath hitched with the hot flare of something hurt and confused and angry before he realized Hal didn’t feel needling this time. His anger washed away on a sigh, leaving him looking at Gamzee feeling only confused and uncertain.

“Yeah.” There were a lot of reasons that feeling any kind of way about John was a bad idea, but that was the big one.

"I got my figure on of that piece of it," Gamzee said, nodding. He tilted his head, looking Dirk over like he was an important puzzle he had to solve. "They got some similarities at them, for sure."

Dirk dropped his head onto Gamzee’s shoulder. “Don’t say that,” he protested. Definitely didn’t whine. “He’s my little brother’s annoying friend and I _refuse_ to deal with him having anything in common with my ex.”

"Uh," Gamzee said. "I mean. They're not, like, the _same_. John's got a load more mischief to him, for one." He patted Dirk's back uncertainly.

“He grew up hot.” Dirk was definitely whining now. “It’s not fair.”

"He surely fucking did!" Gamzee agreed cheerfully.

“Noooo,” Dirk complained again, reaching up to swat ineffectively at Gamzee’s face. “Stop.” He could feel himself smiling, despite himself. 

_He’s enough like Jake that you’re worried that he’ll burn you just as badly._

The smile fell away from Dirk’s face. 

_Or you’ll burn him._ It was strange, how Hal’s words sounded confrontational, were phrased like the usual barbs, but the tone didn’t match at all. He was still folded across Gamzee’s chest, featureless face tucked into the shoulder opposite Dirk. _Jake almost stopped talking to us forever._

"Whoa, hey, now. Hey, my brothers," Gamzee said, stroking Dirk's back a few times, slow and soothing. "Don't you go getting lost in what if's and shit. He didn't, and that was then, and shit is way motherfucking different now. I mean, you've all been to getting me on your side now! And like, you've been working on shit, you're better now, right?" He turned his head to kiss Dirk on the forehead. "Don't get up in your stress and fretting. Ain't no similarity to what was, here."

Dirk burrowed deeper against Gamzee, into that curve where his neck met his shoulder, tightening his arms around him. He could feel Hal between them, like a prickly-soft layer of dark wool, and since Hal was touching Gamzee, Dirk could feel his own embrace to some extent. Which was weird, but kind of nice. Gamzee seemed content to cuddle and stroke his fingers slowly through Dirk’s hair.

 _He used to get the worst migraines just from being around us_ , Hal murmured, like a confession. _We didn’t believe him. We told him he was making it up. He hated me and I was so mad at him._

Dirk blinked against Gamzee’s shoulder, hesitant to speak and break the moment.

_He didn’t hate me. He tried to make it work. Really hard. Despite everything._

Dirk bit his lip. Hal's mental voice dropped so quiet it almost wasn't a fully formed thought.

_He just didn’t want me._

“His motherfucking error,” Gamzee said softly. "Good thing you up and got me now, I got proper appreciation."

Hal all but shivered, Dirk could feel the words go through him from head to toe, like a physical thing.

The darkness moved around them.

Kurloz stretched and curled a vine over into the loop he'd wrapped around them on the bed, and Dirk couldn't see where it ended, but he felt the resonance ripple and Hal twitch, so it must have crossed his border.

 _Think not on fools,_ Kurloz rumbled, almost gently. _Little piece-made starfield, so sharp and shining, none deserve you who cannot master you in all your cleverness. Thus are you_ mine _and no other's._

Hal definitely shivered this time, a full-body waver of his edges. _Grabby, briarpatch,_ he said, but again his words didn’t match his tone. He shifted sideways a bit, closer towards the wall that was Kurloz, and the next time he spoke his tone was familiar; arch and teasing. _And who says you have what it takes? I do have a lot of cleverness._

 _Now he makes pretense of doubt_ , Kurloz said. _Have you need of reminders, little prickly one? Recall who sundered you self from self, who rent you apart and wove you together again. I had you gasping and helpless in my grip, and unlikely to forget it in truth._

Dirk smiled and hid it by brushing a kiss against Gamzee’s neck, halfway between amused and turned on. Hal’s mental presence was all but glowing in his head, an electric go, go, go of energy tuned directly to Kurloz.

_Pretty sure I’ve done the same to you, curly. But your way *is* pretty fun._

“If this is gearing up for a rematch, can the humans please opt out?” Dirk said without lifting his head. “I’m beat.”

Gamzee pouted at him, then grinned. "Yeah, brothers, you can get on your strife and struggle later. I got a need up at me for food."

“Think we still have ramen. And floor popcorn.”

Gamzee huffed, scowling. "Motherfucker. Waste of food, and without the grace at him to get to cleaning up. Puts me up in my temptation to spank his ass."

Dirk was, he realized, still smiling. It was strange how much better he felt. Lighter. “ _Somebody_ got under your skin,” he said, pulling free to go gather his boxers and slip them on. “You haven’t even spanked _my_ ass yet.”

Gamzee arched his eyebrows at Dirk and stood up, stretching out with idle grace. "Well, shit, my brother, there's a straight-up oversight," he said, starting to smile again. "We can get to fixing that any time you please."

Still completely naked, he headed out of Dirk's room and down the hall, Kurloz sweeping along the ceiling overhead.

Dirk watched them go for a minute (well, it _was_ a nice view) and then followed after to the kitchenette, Hal moving in pace beside him. As he came into view of the front room he had a moment where he saw the couch and was ambushed by a vivid collage of half-memory, half-fantasy. Heat swept up his neck in a wave, making his skin tingle. But you know what? Nope. He wasn’t gonna stress about that right now. Or think about it. Or he was only gonna think about it exactly as much as was fun and worry about the inevitable rest later.

He leaned a hip against the flour-dusted kitchen counter, smiling at Gamzee. “My boyfriend spanks on demand. I’m so lucky.”

Gamzee stopped scowling at the baking mess spread across counter and stovetop to snort and grin at Dirk. “Like there’s any motherfucking thing I wouldn’t do if you up and got on your desire for it, bro.” He shook his head, opened a cupboard, pulled out a box of Cheez-Its and started munching on a handful.

It was dumb just how warm and happy and fond Dirk felt watching someone eat processed cheese products naked in the kitchen. “Like I said. Lucky.” Dirk rummaged absently through the chaos of mixing bowls and utensils, moving a few items to the sink, and claiming the remnants of a bowl of buttercream frosting for himself. “That’s right, John said you made cake.” He batted his eyes at Gamzee.

“That I did do,” Gamzee agreed. “You want cake?” He moved to open the fridge and gestured at the pristine cake sitting in splendor in the middle of a nearly empty shelf. Dirk really needed to go grocery shopping soon.

“Mn, god yes.” Gamzee seemed a bit startled to find Dirk licking frosting off his fingers when he turned around. Dirk unabashedly dipped two fingers in the bowl for another swipe and smirked a bit. “This is good.”

“Yeah?” Gamzee said, licking his lips. “It surely oughta be, Jane’s got all her pride on at that recipe. Better with the cake, though.”

“You mean you didn’t frost the counters on purpose? What did John even do?” And that felt casual, fun, his stomach twisting with residual nerves only a bit. Maybe he _could_ do this, follow Gamzee’s lead and just let things play out however they were going to.

Gamzee made a grumbling noise. “Little prank-ass motherfucker, what did he _not_ up and do! Got in my way, spilled my ingredients, chattered me all up in my distraction, tried to start an icing fight—tell you what, bro, it’s a fucking miracle if that cake’s any good at all.”

“He’s got baking-related hang ups,” Dirk said. “His dad bakes.” Another swipe of icing which he sucked from the end of his finger, trying not to smile as he let his glance linger on Gamzee while he did it. Honestly it was such a cliche, but some things were cliche for a reason. Plus, icing. “Tastes pretty good to me.”

“Well, good,” Gamzee said, eyes still riveted to Dirk’s mouth. His cheeks were flushing faintly. “No thanks to him. Wretched little fucker doesn’t deserve cake.”

 _Don’t think I’ve ever seen you hold a grudge before_. Hal sounded approving. 

“But is it a _fun_ grudge?” Dirk said. Hmm. Exactly how much of this icing could he eat before it stopped being a tease and started being just an excuse to eat delicious frosting?

Gamzee blinked at him and frowned, then got a reluctant half-smile. “I guess? I’d fucking love to make him whimper, but like, that sounds like a fine time all by itself even if he didn’t up and get his mess and chaos on in my kitchen.”

Okay, maybe one more swipe. “I find this bossy, stern side of you very attractive,” Dirk told him seriously, licking at his fingers.

 _Take him to poundtown,_ Hal agreed. _Wreck his ass._

Gamzee gave them a bewildered sort of smile. “Can’t up and do that without he gets on his agreement, though,” he pointed out. 

“Yeah, pretty sure that’s not going to be a problem.”

Gamzee’s smile turned sharper, intrigued. “Huh. And if he did, would you be at helping out?” he asked Dirk. “Or just get on your view of the show? You never did get at answering clear on that.”

Some of the humor faded out of Dirk. But the evening still felt warm and comfortable around them, the messy kitchen a bubble of intimacy. He could… talk about this. Think about it. Probably. “I mean,” he said carefully, “I’m not saying that doesn’t sound hot.”

 _Because it would be really hard to hide that horse back in the stable at this point,_ Hal needled dryly.

“Yes, okay, I think my libido’s opinion on the situation has made itself pretty clear. Doesn’t make it a good idea.” Dirk’s face was hot, but he was not thinking about that or anything happening in this conversation right now. He was focusing on cleaning the last bits of icing out from between his fingers with his tongue. “A threesome could definitely be a thing. At some point. With someone.”

 _He’s asking you about *John* though,_ Hal said, because obviously he was never going to let Dirk get away with that half-assed dodge. Dirk shot him a glare and folded his arms over his chest, stomach twisting uneasily.

“No. Maybe? I don’t know.” God, this made him feel flustered and hot and caught out. “Probably not? Seriously, this is all completely irrelevant because have you considered: John’s not actually interested. Like, I think he made it pretty clear he wants to hook up with _Gamzee_. Not his brother’s weird friend.”

“Uh,” Gamzee said, eyebrows doing a funny twist. “My brother, that is sure as fuck not the motherfucking impression I was at getting. He kept checking if you still had your observation on, you notice that? He’d be full and well into you getting hands on.”

Heat and embarrassment curled in Dirk’s belly. His chin tucked. “What? No. More like he was distracted by the weird creeper third-wheeling on his date. You can’t just… you don’t…” Dirk trailed off as a new thought struck him. “Wait, do you know that because you heard something, or… _wait no don’t tell me,_ that would be a violation of privacy or something right? I mean it would have to be. Right? Do you know something? Don’t tell me.”

Gamzee’s eyebrows were up by now and he was grinning, apparently deeply amused by Dirk’s ethical panic. “ _Yeah_ I got at hearing things; his shadow-bro was well tuned in and chatty on it, in his way.”

Dirk flailed his hands, because his asshole boyfriend absolutely was not respecting the complicated moral crisis he was having over here. _But we could_ … his mind whispered, and Hal hummed traitorous agreement.

Gamzee took pity on him before he could have an aneurysm. “Relax, my brother, I won’t say what all I got my figure on of, nor any kind of thing as wouldn’t want to be shared.” He paused, still grinning. “Except he thinks you’re hot, and _we’re_ hot. That’s all to being obvious.”

“I said _don’t_ tell me,” Dirk said with both hands over his eyes. He was _definitely_ blushing. That heat in his gut was turning, just as uneasy, just as interested.

 _*I* think he should tell us,_ Hal said.

“Hal!” Dirk snapped.

_What? Am I supposed to care about John’s boundaries? It’s not like he wasn’t climbing all over ours tonight._

Dirk just wrapped his arms around his head.

“He probably figured as it wouldn’t get to you?” Gamzee suggested. “Being as how he thought you weren’t into him. Remember, he went and got all suave on you, and then you skittered off outta reach?”

Dirk remembered that warm hand, catching his jaw, turning it up, the sly slant of blue eyes, the husky drop in his voice. He blinked rapidly.

“That was a _prank_ ,” Dirk protested, slumping against the table, and immediately hated how he’d somehow joined John’s side of the argument. God, he needed to reassess his entire life.

Gamzee arched amused and mildly exasperated eyebrows at him. “Is that so in all truest verity, brother? Funny how he looked all startled when you moved away.”

The embarrassment and twisty arousal were going to eat Dirk alive. He tried to find a response, blue-screened, and resorted to… doing dishes, as apparently the first activity that came to hand. Wait, hadn’t he been going to eat dinner? Whatever, these motherfuckers were getting themselves cleaned. Along with Dirk’s brain.

“I hate you all,” he declared unconvincingly, and Gamzee snickered at his back.

“I surely do believe that,” Gamzee said placidly, and stuffed another handful of cheese crackers in his mouth. 

Dirk grumbled at him, elbow deep in soapy water and face still far too hot. Gamzee wandered over to drape himself lazily over his back, skin to bare skin, amusement and contentment singing softly through the resonance.

“Peace, brother. It’s all gonna be well. Whatever happens will go and happen, no need to up and fret yourself over it.”

The weird thing was how easily Dirk believed him. Not in a way that stopped him blushing or wanting to duck his head into the sink, but something bone-deep and anxious unclenched itself a little at those words. He sighed and let himself absorb the warmth leaching in through his back, the quiet, cozy domesticity of the kitchen.

Even Hal idling over to poke at Kurloz, little staticky sparks of charge passing between them, felt warm and cozy in its own way.

Okay. Yeah. He was gonna follow Gamzee’s lead and just stop stressing.

Maybe.

Gamzee dropped a cheese-powdery kiss on his cheek and went back to his box for another handful.

“Is that all you’re eating for dinner?” Dirk asked him, amused, and Gamzee wiggled his eyebrows over his latest mouthful. “Maybe at least plate your one-course masterpiece. You’re gonna get crumbs everywhere.”

“‘M gonna have to clean the whole kitchen as is,” Gamzee grumbled, “ _and_ sweep the living room.”

“I’d say you should make John do it, but you definitely don’t want John to do it."

Gamzee snorted. “Probably get icing on the motherfucking ceiling somehow, messy little fucker.” He narrowed his eyes at his next handful of crackers. “Oughta go over next door and dump these all over his floor, see how _he_ likes the mess. Waste of good nibbles, though.” Then he stopped and smiled slowly, eyes turning towards the popcorn scattered through the living room. “Can’t waste nibbles that are already on the floor, though. Shit, bro, I just had the best idea.”

Dirk abandoned the half-washed dishes in the sink, turning to meet that grin with his own smirk. “You have my attention.”

 _Doesn’t he always,_ Hal said _._

And, damn, he really did.


End file.
